Wired:
What seems a strange and complicated ritual is actually simple: Swindonians enter the magic roundabout from one of five points. They aim their car at their destination, yielding to those ahead of them and following the white markings in the pavement.
While a driver entering a normal roundabout might have to make an entire turn to arrive at their destination, a person of Swindon in a magic roundabout can cut through the circles more quickly. A complex pattern emerges.
Roundabouts or traffic circles are fairly uncommon here in North American and can be very confusing to those unfamiliar with their operation. I generally have no problem with them but this “circus” looks like madness. I’m never going to Swindon.
Living in the same (approximate) area as you… I love roundabouts. But I hate how other drivers take them. How many close calls have you had on two lane ones?
Are you kidding? I ride a motorcycle. More close calls than I can count. 🙁
That Swindon roundabout is crazy with the mini-roundabouts on the sides. The scariest one I’ve seen has to be the one that circles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris…twelve streets-no lines.
Well, I was asking more i they’re noticeably worse than the rest of the roads. I imagine they are. Saw two drivers run red lights (and I don’t mean freshly red) this morning on my way through Abbotsford. Crazy, crazy people.
I don’t think I go through enough to say they are better or worse than regular roads or intersections. I’d say, anecdotally, they would be better if only because traffic is coming from just the one direction.
I’ve driven the Arc de Triomphe. I’d definitely pick it over the Swindon one! 🙂
We’ve got a ‘Magic Roundabout’ in my town – Hemel – too, I ride it almost every day on my bike with no problem. The worst thing is those drivers terrified by the thought of it, if you take each roundabout individually it’s easy.
There are many reasons not to go to Swindon, this just added to them 🙂
The fact that it’s officially signposted “Magic Roundabout” is, for me, one of Swindon’s few redeeming features 😀
I found this with the Swindon one — everyone seemed terrified of it, especially beginner drivers. I was a little apprehensive when I first traversed it because of this reputation, but as you say, you just take it one roundabout at a time, and it’s fine.
I’d much rather take a series of small roundabouts than one giant one, like the Hangar Lane Gyratory, say, where it’s much harder to figure out which lane you need to be in to leave at the right exit.
I don’t even drive, and I hate traffic circles.